The Devil's Game
by Metatron-1337
Summary: Sam and Dean meet fellow hunter Kerrie Williams while tracking a particularly large group of demons. She holds an enormous secret - which may be the key to ending the supernatural war. And more than that, she may be the key to finally bridging the gap between the brothers - or making it wider... I do not own anything except my OC :)
1. Chapter 1: The Firecracker

'_Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.' William Shakespeare_

Kerrie didn't always lose her temper, but when she did, it was quite impressive.

Shrugging her black leather jacket over her shoulders, she tossed her flaming red hair back and strode into the bar.

'Back in Black' was blasting from the speakers, and one of the guys sitting at the bar glanced back at her, his eyes skimming her up and down. In tight black jeans, Timberland boots and a black tank under her jacket, she looked like she gave less than a fuck. And right now, boy, was that true.

Narrowing her eyes, she scanned the interior of the room and she zeroed in on her target in a matter of seconds.

"Hey asshole!" she yelled, stomping over to the plaid-clad form in the corner, who was sipping beer with his redneck buddies.

"Oh hey lookie here, we got ourselves a firecracker, boys," a mullet-bearing, nearly toothless one slurred.

"You'll get yourself the rest of those teeth knocked out if you don't shut the fuck up," she shot back, smiling sweetly.

The guy she had been originally talking to turned to her, putting his mug down. "What do ya want, Ker?"

"This," she replied quietly, and punched him in the face. His head smashed against the wall and his face landed into his plate of fries. The entire bar quieted down, and Brian Johnson's voice blared about being 'back'.

The two guys at the bar swirled in their seats and stared at Kerrie. She turned and caught the eye of the blonde, slightly shorter one. Smirking, she winked, and sauntered out of the joint.

"Dean," the taller one said, turning to his brother.

"Huh?" Dean's mouth was stuck in a stupid grin, and his eyes had glazed over.

"Dude, snap out of it," Sam laughed, punching his brother in the arm.

"Man, that girl was seriously badass," Dean said, shaking his head with a smile.

The sounds of a motorcycle revving up were audible, and Dean jumped to his feet.

"I bet you 100 bucks that's her bike!" and sped outside.

Sam sighed, threw some money on the bar, and grabbed the bag, hurrying after his older brother. What are you doing now, Dean? We don't have time to chase girls.

Kerrie's foot was lifting off the ground to drive away as Dean stumbled outside and yelled, "Hey!"

She sighed, turned the engine off, and parked the bike. Swinging her leg over to the other side, she stood up and took her helmet off, letting her hair swing loose across her shoulders.

"Did you want something, Winchester?" she asked, deadpan.

Dean opened his mouth, and then closed it, frowning. Sam walked up behind him and regarded Kerrie with suspicion. "How do you know who we are?"

She rolled her eyes. "I just do," she replied, making the crease between Sam's eyebrows increase. She made an annoyed sound and continued, "What do you want me to say? You want me to tell you 'oh everyone knows who you are, guys, please let me ogle you because you're so sexy with your super hunting skills'? Because that's not going to happen. Sorry," she finished, shrugging.

"But you still think I'm sexy, right?" Dean said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"That would be the only part you heard," she snapped, shaking her head. "I'm in a bit of a hurry," she added, uncrossing her arms and gesturing to her bike. "Did you want something, or are we making idle chit-chat for no reason?"

"Bit of a hurry meaning... What exactly?" Dean inquired, suddenly curious and loads more serious.

Kerrie rolled her eyes again, and pulled up the sleeve of her jacket to glance at her watch, tapping her foot impatiently. "A job," she replied snidely. "Something you should consider acquiring."

"O-ho, look at her, Sammy, she's got a vocabulary," Dean snickered.

"What kind of job?" Sam asked suddenly, eyeing the gun strap at Kerrie's side for the first time.

"I suppose it's along the lines of what you guys call a job," she shrugged, inspecting her red nails for chipping.

"You're a hunter?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Oh, I don't like that word," she replied nonchalantly. "I like to think of myself as a pest exterminator."

Dean chuckled. "That's real cute," he said sarcastically. Kerrie and Dean held eye contact for a few seconds longer than necessary.

Sam cleared his throat. "There's a job here?" he asked.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes," Kerrie replied, tossing her hair back, inspecting her nails again. Glancing up, she added, "I was on my way to something bigger, but I figured I'd stop by and take care of some business here."

"What are you hunting?" Dean asked, now thoroughly curious.

Kerrie raised her green eyes to look at him, and smiled knowingly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She started to get back on her bike, then paused. A guy stalked out of the bar, coming straight toward them. His eyes were pitch black.

"Boys, get down," Kerrie said calmly, grinning wildly, then she whipped her gun out, firing a round into the demon's chest. The bullets flew by Sam's head as he ducked.

The possessed man shuddered, his body sparked twice, then he dropped to the ground like a stone - an effect very familiar to the boys.

Sliding the gun back into its holster, Kerrie turned to look at the Winchesters, who were staring at her in shock.

"Can we please move past the '_holy shit your gun kills demons, what the hell, no pun intended'_crap?" she asked sweetly.

"Okay," Dean said, frowning, shaking his head, "But anyways, yeah, what the hell?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she replied, batting her eyelashes. "Troubled childhood, all that."

"Wait, Sam, we gotta be careful. Remember the last person we met who had a demon-killing weapon?" Dean said to Sam quietly, his hand reaching down to his own gun.

Kerrie rolled her eyes. "Do ahead, drench me in holy water. Coincidentally, I have been wanting to go skinny dipping," she added with a wicked smile.

Dean smirked. "You don't say," he muttered quietly, giving her a smoldering look.

"I see you rolling your eyes, Sammy," Kerrie called out, not breaking eye contact with Dean.

Suddenly, a stream of water was pitched at her and she found herself wiping it out of her eyes. "Sam," Kerrie growled. "Do you know how long it takes to get my hair to stay straight in the morning? Oh my bad you probably do, considering how _luscious_ yours is."

Dean chuckled. "She's got you figured out, Sammy. And she's not a demon, so we can continue staring at her."

Kerrie pushed her hair back and out of her eyes. "Don't you mean checking me out?" she said suggestively, grinning.

Sam opened his mouth to say something, and Kerrie held up her hand. "Yeah, that demon was the thing I was hunting."

Sam frowned. "So this whole time we've been talking to you..." Sam began.

"Yeah, I used you guys. Sorry. I was counting on you to come outside," she smirked, shrugging, "The demon likes to strike when it thinks you're busy. Good thing I wasn't, really," she added with an impish grin.

"Okay, woman, you're gonna have to start giving us some real answers, pronto," Dean said in a huff, crossing his arms.

"Alright, fine," Kerrie replied simply. "Now that my job here's done, I guess I have a few hours to spare. I'll follow you guys to your motel on my bike."

The guys turned to go to the Impala, then Kerrie called out. "Oh, by the way, Dean, don't you need these?" and dangled his car keys.

"What? How?" Dean sputtered. Sam muffled a laugh.

Kerrie tossed the keys to Dean, put her helmet back on, and replied, "Just drive, sweetheart."


	2. Chapter 2: The Hybrid

**Close the gates of hell? Easier said than done, when you've got both angels and demons on your ass. **

/

'_Drowning deep in my sea of loathing, broken your servant I kneel.  
It seems what's left of my human side is slowly changing in me  
Looking at my own reflection, when suddenly it changes,_

_Violently it changes.  
There is no turning back now that you've woken up the demon in me.'_

/

Kerrie tossed her jacket down and plopped down next to it on one of the twin beds in the motel room. Sam stood in the corner with his arms crossed, and Dean leaned against the wall a few feet away from her.

"Start talking," he ordered.

"A few years ago, I came across someone. A friend of a friend of a friend, you could say. She taught me how to build a weapon that could kill a demon. Let's put it this way: she's been around for a while," Kerrie stated simply, eyeing the boys steadily.

"Was she human?" Sam asked. Dean glanced over at him as if the idea hadn't occured to him.

"I don't know, I didn't ask," Kerrie said with a grin. Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Are you being straight right now or jerking us around? Because we do not have time for that," he snapped.

Kerrie released a heaving breath and leaned forward, unwittingly giving Dean a full frontal screening of her cleavage. She was wearing a red lace bra. She caught him staring and pulled her shirt up, giving him a dirty look.

"Could you please focus on something besides your dirty mind, Dean?" Sam asked, exasperated, throwing his hands up in the air.

"What he said," Kerrie added with a growl.

"Sorry," Dean muttered, chastized.

"Look, guys, I'm starting to think I should just trust you and tell you what you want to know," Kerrie started with a frown.

Now it was Dean's turn to throw his hands up. "Hallelujah, at last," he snapped sarcastically.

"Call Bobby," Kerrie said without raising her eyes to the two of them.

Dean was about to ask why when Sam shook his head, catching his brother's eye, and pulled his cellphone out.

"Hey, Bobby," he said into the phone, gazing directly at Kerrie.

"There's a girl here, I wanted to ask you about her. Her name's Kerrie," he continued.

He listened for a second. "Yeah, red hair, Kawasaki bike."

His eyes widened a fraction of an inch. "So what-"

He swallowed, openly staring at Kerrie. She sighed, raising her eyes to look at Dean, who looked confused as hell.

"Right," Sam bit out, "Thanks, Bobby."

Hanging up, he walked towards Kerrie. "You're alright," he muttered, sitting next to her. "Sorry about your mom."

Kerrie looked away, struggling with her emotions for a second, then murmured, "Thank you."

"Anyone gonna tell me what's going on?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Kerrie's mom was possessed. She watched her die after her father paid someone to exorcise her," Sam said quietly, putting a hand on Kerrie's shoulder.

Dean immediately looked completely somber. "Sorry," he said lamely, looking down.

Kerrie just nodded. "It was a long time ago," she said, smiling bitterly. "I've been hunting since I was 10 and I'm not about to stop now."

Dean regarded her with renewed respect.

"So are you guys tracking demonic omens, too?" Kerrie said suddenly, breaking the pitiful silence.

"Yes," Sam replied, his hand dropping from her shoulder. "Do you have any leads?"

"Actually, yes," she replied, standing up. "Gettysburg, Pennsylvania."

"Isn't that like one of the most haunted places in the USA?" Dean said with an ironic smile.

"Now it actually is," Kerrie replied, returning his smile.

"So that's where you were headed when you stopped by here to take care of that demon?" Sam asked, swinging her attention back to him.

"Yep," she replied, clasping her hands behind her back.

Dean frowned, mulling something over in his head, and then, "How many do you think there are?"

Sam looked puzzled. "You mean in the group of demons?"

"There are 16," Kerrie replied pointedly.

Both of the brothers looked at her. "How do you know?" Dean demanded.

"I just do, okay?" she snapped. "You know how Sam sometimes just knows things?"

Sam's head snapped to stare at her as she said this.

She swallowed. "Sorry, Sam," she muttered.

"Are you psychic or something?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Or something," she replied, turning away.

**/**

Dean and Sam both trained their eyes on Kerrie's sleeping form.

"What do you think?" Dean said to Sam quietly, pursing his lips.

"I think she told us the truth," Sam replied, shrugging.

"Yeah, but she sure as hell didn't tell us all of it," Dean shot back, sitting on the other bed, stretching his legs out.

"She's known us for a couple of hours, Dean," Sam said, shaking his head. Walking over to the bed, he sat down beside his brother, and turned to him. "We need to help her trust us if we want her to open up. Besides," he continued, looking back at the red-haired girl, "Bobby says we should keep her with us for a while."

There had once been a time when Dean would object vehemently to a girl travelling with them. However, he'd changed quite a bit since he'd first set out hunting with Sam to find their father. Instead, he just mulled the thought over in his head somewhat disapprovingly.

Suddenly, Kerrie tossed and whimpered. "No, please," her voice pleaded. "Mom..."

Sam's face fell, and he got up to walk over to where she lay. Looking down at her, he said quietly, "We can relate, can't we, Dean?"

Dean watched the girl's chest rise and fall, and her pained facial expression. "Yeah," he mumbled. "I guess."

The light began to flicker, and the TV turned on. Both men lurched to their bag and armed themselves, pouring salt at the doorway and the window.

Instantaneously, everything turned off, and sparks sprang from the light fixture, and the window smashed open, glass flying everywhere.

Shielding their eyes, the Winchester brothers looked at each other, alarmed.

"This isn't a demon, Dean," Sam bit out, struggling to stay upright.

Kerrie sprang out of bed, wide awake and alert, holding her gun like a pro, aiming at the door.

"He's here," she spat out, staring at the door, eyes like green flames.

"Who?" Dean asked, glancing between her figure and the doorway.

The door smashed open and a male figure walked in, dressed in a grey suit and leather dress shoes. His dark chestnut hair was combed back and his eyes were fixed on Kerrie. His striking, _green_ eyes.

"Hello, sweetheart," he said with a charming smile.

"Raziel," she sneered.

"Now, honey, you know I prefer it when you call me 'Dad'," the man replied.

"Holy shit," Dean whispered, looking between the two of them, almost seeing the tension spark. "Your father's an angel?"

"Yeah, trust me, only a few years ago, I was just as shocked as you are right now," Kerrie replied, glaring at her father's form.

"Is that possible?" Sam whispered, keeping his eyes on the angel. "I mean, do angels—_can_ angels, err, procreate?"

"Anything is possible," the majestic man replied. Then he shrugged, "I had renounced my title as a soldier of the Lord when I met Kristen's mother."

"It's Kerrie," she snapped, still glaring at the man. If looks could kill, oh boy...

"Okay, everyone just put your guns down," Dean said calmly, letting his gun slowly descend, raising his hands in surrender.

Kerrie slowly lowered her own, but still maintained her tense position.

"Why are you here?" she asked, a strained note in her voice.

"I'm here to warn you," he replied, gazing at her with an almost human expression on his face. Thinking back, Kerrie could not believe how she hadn't noticed that her father was a little strange when she was a child.

"Are you going to tell me that Mom's coming for me?" she hissed. "Because I watched her die, _Dad_," she made quotation marks with her fingers, "And if her ghost was coming back to haunt anyone, it would be you."

"I mean your real mother. The thing which had been harbouring her body at the time of your conception," he replied quietly.

"Stop saying that!" Kerrie shouted, tears welling up in her eyes. "You've tried to tell me that a hundred times, and it never makes sense! Why would a demon want to—do that—with an angel?"

Raziel shook his head. "I don't know, but you are my daughter, and I am trying to caution you," he began in a reasonable voice, which really only sounded like he was talking to a 6 year old.

Sam was still reeling from the shock of what Raziel had said about Kerrie's conception when Dean finally seemed to grasp it. "Wait, I'm sorry, but did you just say that Kerrie's mother was a demon?"

"Humans. Things which are impossible seem so—unlikely to you," Raziel said, shaking his head, smiling softly. Then his smile turned bitter. "I was not aware of her possession until after the birth of Kristen."

"How is that possible?" Sam asked, sounding spiteful. Kerrie silently thanked him.

Raziel just shook his head. "She had planned the entire thing well, and masked her tracks. I had resigned my position and so did not have my celestial powers, as I suppose you would refer to them, to detect anything out of the ordinary. It seems the demon had been tracking us for some time, because it had learned quite a bit about my late wife," he had to correct himself to say _late_, almost as if he had forgotten that she was dead. "Anyway," he continued, "the possession took place only on the day of conception, and then she came back during the birthing. She came to me as a psychic woman of healing, and told me that my wife would die during the birth, and she was right. She possessed her to get her through it, which I did not know until years later. It worked, but Diana's body was so worn out, she became ill after. For years she was weak. She was never able to go back to her beloved work. Kristen was the only thing which brought her joy. She began to get better around Kristen's 8th birthday. But the progress was too rapid, too unlikely – too _impossible_, a human might say. I noticed. And it suddenly dawned on me, everything that I had been missing. So I called someone who came highly recommended."

Kerrie had gone from practically seething to a single tear sliding down her cheek as she crumpled to a sitting position on the edge of the bed.

"Bobby Singer," Raziel sighed, and the name rang a bell of pain in the Winchesters' hearts. "He performed the exorcism."

"And then she died," Kerrie whispered brokenly. "She died asking you, '_Why?_' and you just watched."

"Kristen, I did not have a choice," Raziel whispered, sounding surprisingly emotional.

"Everyone always has a choice," Dean said, voice unwavering, and Kerrie stared at him. The corners of his mouth turned up in a reassuring smile.

"You would know about choice, would you not, Dean Winchester?" Raziel stated, smiling at Dean.

Dean's gun arm began to rise, and Sam had to give him the _Dean-stop-it-right-now-or-else_ look.

"What was the name of the demon?" Dean asked, trying very hard not to hit the man in front of him.

"I think you may have heard of her," Raziel replied.

"No," Sam said, at the same time as Kerrie whispered, "Lilith."


	3. Chapter 3: The Original

_I've heard there was a sacred chord that David played and it pleased the Lord_

_But you don't really care for music, do you? _

/

"I'm sorry, did you say Lilith? Lilith, like the bitch that started the apocalypse?" Dean snapped, his forehead creasing.

Kerrie rubbed her temples, suddenly exhausted. "Yes," she said.

"Wait a minute, the apocalypse never happened," Sam stated matter-of-factly, then turned to Kerrie. "So how could you know about it?"

"Remember the psychic or something thing?" Kerrie snapped, glaring at him. "Plus, Daddy dearest wouldn't let me go a month without updating me on the horrendous news of heaven and hell." She scoffed, not looking at Raziel.

"I came as a courtesy," Raziel said through gritted teeth. "You are being hunted."

"Woah," Sam said, taking a step back. "We do the hunting, we are not the hunt _ed_."

"Not you, fools," Raziel snapped, huffing. "Kristen."

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration and then raised his eyebrows at the angel. "Alright, I'll bite. Who is hunting a hunter?"

"She is not being hunted for her 'profession'," Raziel made quotation marks with his fingers, and Dean couldn't help but think of Cas, "but rather for her, erm, ethnicity."

"Kinda racist, don't ya think?" Kerrie muttered sarcastically, and Sam snorted, surprised.

"No one's huntin' anybody around here, okay?" Dean said with finality.

Kerrie looked up, surprised at his support. When he glanced at her, she looked down and found herself blushing.

"Kerrie was a potential seal," Raziel added.

Sam knew instantly what he was talking about. "Excuse me?"

"Lilith had to create her because she was a seal, but she monitored her to suppress her abilities because she was the only one able to kill Lucifer."

"Did you say kill Lucifer?" Sam said, shock wiping his features.

"Not a problem any longer, clearly," Raziel dismissed the name with a wave of his hand. "Now that I've delivered the news, I'll take my leave. Take care of my Kristen."

He turned to go, but Kerrie lurched to her feet and touched his arm. He yanked it back with a hiss.

"See?" she whispered, her voice dull and calm. "After all this time, you still can't bear to be touched by me. I killed her, didn't I?"

"Kerrie," Dean said quietly. "It wasn't your fault. It was Lilith."

"It was me," Kerrie replied hastily. "I was the reason Lilith was there anyway. Mom was barren, wasn't she?" she turned to Raziel.

"When did you find out?" he asked without turning around, his tone quiet and thoughtful.

"Two years ago," Kerrie said with a defeated grimace.

"You were a miracle," Raziel sneered, whirling to face her, "that's what your mother called you, that's what sustained her. But even your existence couldn't fix what was done to her. And Lilith continued to fester inside her until her final moments – a parasite looking after its young," he finished with an edge in his voice, piercing her with a haunted, hateful look.

Kerrie grinned then, a sad, triumphant look. "Thank you, Daddy," she said quietly, and at the third word, his eyes filled with tears and he strode out of the motel room without so much as a goodbye.

Kerrie released a breath with a _whoosh_ and collapsed on the floor.

"Kerrie, you okay?" Sam exclaimed, dropping to his knees beside her.

"Sam," she whispered, looking up at him with bloodshot eyes. "I'll be fine, don't worry," she added, struggling to smile.

"So," Dean finally weighed in, sitting down on the bed beside them. "Those demons you're hunting?"

"They are actually demons," Kerrie replied, letting Sam help her up. "But they aren't under Crowley. At least not that I'm aware of. There are others following me, they've been on my trail for a few weeks, but I lost them two days ago."

Sam's forehead creased with worry lines. "How many are following you?"

"From what I know," she began, and glared at Dean once he gave her the dubious look again, "there are four. Demons."

Sam leaned over a little so their shoulders were touching. "You sound hesitant about that."

"I only say that because I don't think they're all demons," she said quietly.

"Sorry?" Dean said, smiling sarcastically and then quickly donning an angry face.

"Not all demons? What does that mean?"

Kerrie sighed. "One of them might be an angel."

"_Might_ be?" Dean growled. "Damnit," he snapped, lurching up and kicking the side of the bed. Kerrie winced.

Sam put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. Kerrie sighed. This was getting too close.

"I'm sorry, I never meant to have to expose you guys to this," she murmured.

"Well, you did," Dean frowned. "You didn't think you should tell us about demons hunting you before getting us involved in your hunt, though?"

"I didn't think it was necessary," Kerrie snapped, pushing Sam away gently and walking over to the door and donning her jacket. "I figured we would take out the demon coup and then I'd be on my merry way."

"Right into the heart of Mount Doom," Dean muttered, grinning.

"We could help you," Sam said, ignoring the LOTR reference. "If you're as powerful as Raziel says, shouldn't we keep you away from Crowley?"

"How appropriate, Samwise the Brave," Kerrie said cheerily.

Dean actually laughed.


	4. Chapter 4: The Hunt

_Like a gift from the heavens, it was easy to tell_

_It was love from above like it saved me from hell_

_She had fire in her soul, it was easy to see_

_How the devil himself could be pulled out of me_

/

Kerrie shook out her hair. It had gotten rained on, despite her best efforts, and looked like the fire had been put out. She ran her fingers through the red tresses impatiently as the Winchesters rolled up in the Impala. After getting out, somewhat awkwardly due to his sheer size, Sam walked around to hand her the book he was holding.

"This is the exorcism ritual I memorized," he told her, his chest now extremely close to her face, forcing her to take a small step back and blush.

She took it, her fingers brushing his, and murmured, "Thanks," glancing up from beneath her mascara-ed eyelashes.

Dean cleared his throat and pointed at the lower windows of the house. "All boarded up."

"I guess so that kids can't get inside," Sam observed, smiling.

"Aw c'mon, Sam, didn't you ever take a girl to a 'haunted house' just to get some action?" Dean asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Sam frowned, smiling back ruefully. "No," he replied, shrugging.

"Jeez, what did you even _do_ in college?" Dean answered, bewildered, and wandered down the path to the front door of the Gettysburg house.

Kerrie giggled, and then quickly formed her pokerface when Sam looked at her accusingly. She smiled innocently in response.

"I say we just barge in there and blow them all to smithereens," Kerrie proclaimed.

"Keep your voice down, sheesh," Dean whispered-yelled, exasperated.

Another giggle.

Sam was beginning to rely on that sound to keep him somewhat pleasantly entertained.

A sound came from inside the giant house.

"Oh great, you blew our element of surprise," Dean hissed at Kerrie. She just shrugged.

"I'm not Chuck Norris, man," she shot back. "I recognize other elements."

Sam started to laugh, then the sight of two demons swaggering from behind the house sobered him.

"Oh good, they have the girl," one of the two parasites wearing a tall, stocky construction workers meatsuit said to the other.

"Well, there's your answer to whether they're working for Crowley," Sam spat to Kerrie, pulling out Ruby's knife.

Kerrie shook her head slowly, a wry smile forming on her red tinged lips. "Should've guessed. Once a useless bag of douche, always a useless bag of douche."

One of the tall men growled at her, his fully black eyes narrowing.

"What are you gonna do? Tell on me to big dick Crowley? What a way to lose a soul," she chortled with laughter.

The demons seethed at her.

"What are you doing?" Dean hissed at her through clenched teeth, training his angel blade at one of the demons.

"Juuuuust watch," she answered with a cheeky grin, and waltzed up the men. "Isn't this why you're here? To draw me out? So where is your oh-so-fearless leader? Didn't come himself because he knows I can kill you without laying a hand on you?"

One of the demons looked at the other and a barely there shake of the head was exchanged.

They faced her and one of them reached out to grab her. Sam lunged forward. "Kerrie!"

"Don't worry, Sam," she said without looking at him, and her words rang true. She reached out her hand and touched the demon skin-to-skin. The contact seem harmless, but the demon let out a strangled scream. She let go and he stumbled back.

"Full demons can't make bare contact with me. My body possesses the grace of an angel," she mouthed in the direction of the flabbergasted Winchesters. "Not literally, of course," she added, chuckling. "Still as clumsy as ever."

"Well, then," Dean answered, and Kerrie swore she could hear a bit of pride in his voice. She grinned.

The other demon was taking tiny steps back from her.

"So," she raised an eyebrow. "Running back to daddy already? Tell me, is that what you call him when he spanks you, too?"

The demon barred its teeth at her, but turned and ran to the back of the house, presumably to gather the rest of them.

Sam jogged up the front steps and put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Kerrie nodded and smiled lightly, shrugging his hand off her shoulder. "I just really hate having to use that."

She walked towards the back without another word. Dean and Sam exchanged looks.

When they had followed Kerrie to the backyard, they heard a gun go off, and walked faster. When they reached the back of the enormous property, they found two bodies on the garden, neat bullet holes in their foreheads.

A frustrated scream permeated from inside the house.

Sam sprinted up the back steps.

Dean cursed 'damsels in distress' and 'Sammy's soft heart' and followed.

They found Kerrie with blood splatter on her white tank top and two more demons at her feet.

"What was that scream?" Sam exclaimed, and hurried to her side, inspecting her torso.

"Its not my blood, Sam," she explained patiently, though her teeth were bared in exasperance.

"Oh," he replied, stepping back sheepishly.

"They're gone," she said, gripping the Les Bauer with anger.

"Even the angel?" Dean couldn't help himself.

"Especially the angel," Kerrie replied, hanging her head. She pressed her palm into her forehead, not believing her own recklessness.

"Well, we'll just have to catch them the old fashioned way," Sam said in a forced cheery tone.

"God, you are so much like Samwise the hobbit that it is giving me Two Towers flashbacks," Kerrie muttered, and stomped out of the house in a flare of temper.

Dean laughed, then seeing the look on Sam's face, stopped. "Don't worry, Sammy," Dean reassured him, slapping a hand on his back. "Samwise only got friendzoned for two movies."

Sam gave him the bitchface of doom and stomped from the room.

"Sheesh," Dean shook his head. "So many tempers. Am I the only adult around here?"

"I heard that!" Sam yelled from the porch.


	5. Chapter 5: The Sun

_This is how I show my love,  
I made it in my mind_

This is how an angel dies  
I blame it on my sick pride

Maybe I should cry for help  
Maybe I should kill myself

Maybe I'm a different breed  
Maybe I'm not listening…

_/_

Kerrie was livid. First, Raziel had crashed the motel and ruined any chance she'd had at keeping her questionable story a secret from the Winchesters, and then she'd let Crowley's cronies escape. She ground her teeth together, wringing her hands nervously and pacing the floor of the diner bathroom. The guys were grabbing a booth for the three of them and Dean had not stopped talking about pie since they'd made the decision to get lunch. Kerrie was too emotional to eat, and had whispered that much to Sam, who had only given her those worried puppy dog eyes and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. God, why was he so nice? _Ugh_, time to face the music.

She inhaled deeply and flipped her flaming mane over her shoulder, wiping at her smudged eyeliner and running her fingers through her bangs. Wiping her shaking hands on her jean legs, Kerrie strode out and towards the back corner where Sam and Dean were inspecting menus.

"Not another salad, Sammy," Dean was saying, a disapproving tone in his voice. There was a teasing familiarity there, as well, "I'll be embarrassed to be seen with you. Be a man and eat a burger."

Kerrie huffed and smacked the back of Dean's head lightly. "Hey!" he complained.

She sat down next to him and shoved him over with her hip, sticking her tongue out.

"It's like having two bonehead brothers I never asked for," she giggled to herself, just loud enough for the boys to hear.

Sam scowled at her, and Kerrie just smiled ruefully.

Dean snorted. "Yeah, right," Dean said, leaning in super close. "Brother, my ass," he whispered, his hot breath fanning across her collar bone.

Kerrie willed herself not to flush a pink colour and shoved Dean with her shoulder. "Down, boy," she snapped, but laughed at the same time.

The waitress approached their table and greeted them with a bright grin. "You must be new in town," she chirped.

"Not for long," Kerrie replied, smiling back. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and she stared at the waitress in tense concentration.

"Ker, what is it?" Sam asked, hesitating, worry creasing his brow.

The waitress, whose name was Celia according to the name tag pinned to her white uniform shirt, looked between Kerrie and Sam, confused.

Finally, Kerrie relaxed, and smiled once more. "I'll have an angus burger with bacon and cheese, fries and a pitcher of beer."

"We're not drinking, Kerrie," Sam argued.

"I said_ I'll_ have a pitcher of beer, Sam," Kerrie said sweetly, smiling brightly. "Didn't you hear?"

Dean whistled, a proud gleam in his eye.

/

"So what was that, back there?" Dean asked, stepping faster to catch up with Kerrie's brisk walk. The sun was shining, but a storm was brewing in her head.

"I was doing my psychic-or-something thing," Kerrie snapped, looking both ways before jogging across the street to her bike.

"What, were you like reading her mind or something?" Dean asked, shaking his head sceptically.

"Actually, yes," Kerrie said, venom dripping from her voice.

"Woah," Sam said, stopping by the side door of the Impala. "You can do that? Can you do that to us?" he asked, panic in his voice.

"Relax, Samwise, I wouldn't. Besides, you're an open book as it is," Kerrie replied, and Dean chuckled.

"So what'd you get from her?" Dean asked, skipping over his shock.

"She remembered seeing someone who looked just like the two of you two days ago," Kerrie answered.

"Shapeshifters?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Yeah, headed to the next town over, if I heard her right," Kerrie replied. She swung one leg over the side of the Kawasaki.

"You know you can leave your bike at the motel and just ride the car with us," Sam volunteered helpfully.

"How about you leave your hair behind, Sam?" Kerrie hissed back, donning her helmet.

Bitchface of doom aimed straight at her, followed by more laughter from Dean.

/

They spent the next few hours browsing various sources online and through the books the boys had brought from their Batman cave. The library was quiet, and Kerrie had grown restless.

"Alright, we know how to kill shapeshifters, so can we just go?" she pleaded, making puppy dog eyes at Sam.

He sighed, and broke his gaze, looking back to the book in his hands. "We need to try to find as much lore as we can about you," he muttered.

She groaned. The guys had explained that they needed to know what exactly they were dealing with before they marched off to a war for her. She told them that she didn't need them to back her up, but they wouldn't hear it.

"I can tell you about my abilities myself," she'd told them, but they insisted that she probably did not know much about them herself, only what she'd glimpsed during emotional episodes.

Kerrie finally pulled away from the table and made her way through the stacks, looking for a source of entertainment. Finally she found the fiction section and something caught her eye at the very end of the aisle. _Supernatural _by Carver Edlund.

She smirked. She'd seen this in some of her dreams.

She picked up the book and started turning the pages. She was a fast reader. 45 minutes later, Dean found her sitting on the floor, turning the last few pages, a wide grin on her face. She'd thrown her jacket across the aisle and crossed her legs, her tank top riding up and exposing a few black tendrils, the beginning of a tattoo on her left hip.

"What're you doing?" Dean asked, standing over her.

She simply showed him the cover of the book, and giggled at his groan. He sank to the floor beside her and looked at her side, noticing the ink on her hip.

"What is that?" he asked, reaching out to touch it, and pulling back at her yelp.

"Sorry," he hastily apologized.

"It's okay," she replied. "It's been a little tender, hasn't healed as fast as it should have. I got it about a week ago."

"When'd you have time to get a tattoo?" Dean asked, confused.

"I don't sleep much," she replied, looking down.

"What is it, anyway?" he inquired, lifting her shirt a bit. She allowed him to, and he saw that it was a perfect replica of the tattoo on his chest.

"Anti-possession sigil," she replied, smirking. "I've always wanted a hip tattoo, and I thought, 'what's more hip than cult ink?'" Kerrie laughed at her own joke.

Dean just shook his head, and helped her up, grabbing the Supernatural book out of her hands and tossing it across the room. From somewhere in the library, Sam _shushed_ them.

/

The Impala pulled over about half a mile before the motel, a small dirt road down to a lake wound to one side of it. Kerrie pulled over and turned off the bike's engine, confused.

"Why are we here?" Kerrie called out to the boys, shrugging her hair out of her helmet.

"Just taking a break," Dean yelled back, grabbing a six pack out of the back seat and swaggering in his bow-legged way down the sandy path.

Kerrie raised one eyebrow and met Sam's gaze. He shrugged and followed Dean, and with a groan, Kerrie resigned herself to the inevitable probability that she was stuck with these guys whether she liked it or not.

Trudging down the wind-blown trail, Kerrie began to imagine what it would be like, always travelling with the Winchesters. The life of a hunter wasn't glamorous or comfortable, and she'd never been under any illusions about love or relationships. This life tore away any shred of happiness she'd clung to. She was constantly alone, falling asleep in gritty motel beds, cold and tired and shivering, with only her own arms to wrap around herself. They were hunters, but they had each other. Brothers. Family. _Maybe that's all you needed_, Kerrie thought to herself bitterly, and yet the cynicism kept her from letting her heart open.

She was snapped out of her reverie when she walked smack into Sam's hard back, and fell flat on her bum. "Shit," she cursed, moaning at the pain in her rear end.

She heard laughter and looked up into Sam's eyes, which were shining with mirth. The sun rays behind him made his face more handsome than it usually was, and his laughter lit him up from the inside out.

For a moment, she didn't breathe, and then he gripped her hand and pulled her straight up into himself, his other hand resting in the dip of her lower back.

"Ooookay," Dean said from behind them, and Kerrie snapped out of it, pushing away from Sam's muscled chest, the faint scent of his cologne mixing with the smell of the ceasar salad he'd had at the diner.

When she looked at Dean, he was opening up a beer and grinning at the lake like a crazy person. He reached over and handed her the bottle, their fingers brushing and his smile electric when she caught his eye. He turned and stretched out, his face curved up towards the pink and orange clouds, the breeze ruffling his short blonde hair.

"Have you ever seen anything like it?" he asked, rhetorically, of course, because it certainly couldn't have been the first lake or even the first sunset either of them had seen. But there was something in his voice, a catch, a note that made Kerrie hesitate, and look again, to see the fascination of the peace of the moment caught in his eyes. There was no amount of familiarity that could stifle the startling freedom Dean Winchester felt during a moment of solitude with his family. And that is why Kerrie suddenly felt in the way, somehow, and stepped backwards, only to feel Sam's hand on her back.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, genuinely caring.

Kerrie's eyes filled up with tears.

"I…" she began, at a loss for words. Dean had sat on the ground and glanced at them, gesturing for them to join him on the ground. Kerrie silently sank to the ground, putting her beer bottle down and making eye contact with the toes of her boots.

"Kerrie?" Sam asked again, settling to her other side, the three of them forming a neat line on the shore of the lake.

"I just…" she tried again, but the lump in her throat became too much, and one lonely tear slid down her cheek.

Dean looked at her, frowning. "What's wrong?"

She looked between the two of them, both of their profiles painted by the sparkling colours of the sunset, their unconditional caring seeming to wrap around her and choke her with unexpected joy.

"Nothing," she finally managed to get out, wiping at her eyes, and smiling. "You're right. I've never seen anything like it."


End file.
